Not owning a televison - why?

Ness Rowlah

Norwegian Wood
I know there are at least a couple of people on this list who don't have a TV.

I always found this a curious position -
I find television a great way to be entertained (sports like the World Cup in football coming up),
educated (ie with recent series like the Beeb's series on Folk Britannia and on the The Romantics)
and kept up to date on news.

I don't watch that much telly - but I find it incredibly useful.

So to those who don't have a television - why?
Do you somewhat feel superior (a stance I have witnessed personally by "non-TV persons"), that television is not worth your time, controlled by the state/Murdoch or part of some greater conspiracy?
 

francesco

Minerva Estassi
I don't have a television, but really, you should have a look at italian television' programme and probably you will be so disgusted and immediately understand why.

More than a superior person i will probably look like a freak, since everyone there talks only about what they see on television and nothing more, they have no more interest. And here almost all television is owned by Berlusconi....

I have more time for read, more time for music, i listen to news on radio, go to cinema, fuck with girls, see DVDs on my portable pc, watch pornography and read blogs on pc, write a lot, and for the World Cup i will go to friends house and watch together. If ever italian television will air "Folk Britannia and on the The Romantics" instead of Big Brother 6, endless gossips about shitty celebrities or Berlusconi face i will buy a tv set, really!


Tv in italy has not been always shitty, to be fare in the '60 and early '70 RAI TV was one of the best worlwide, on pair with BBC, really great fiction, great documentary, great shows. It all went down with the beginning of vulgar commercial television owned by "he who must not be named".
 

Jezmi

Olli Oliver Steichelsmein
I´ve had periods in which I didn´t own a Tv. I do now, but it´s not that much of a difference really. It is a great way to relax, popping on the telly when you get home and before you go to bed. But what happens, to me and probably to 90% of everyone, is that the intended 15 minutes turn into 1,5 hours. And with all the crap that is on, channel flicking as a result, the value of the information recieved is decreased. A research showed that when waching tv, the brain had less activity than when in sleeping mode. This is not entirely fair because during the REM the brain is hyperactive, but it does have a point.
Finally it comes down to the question: What would I be doing if I was not watching TV? -- Reading a book? Spending time with family and friends?
I Like to go for long walks through the city I live in, gives me a chance to listen to music and let my mind explore thoughts freely. This gives me more entertainment, knowledge and sanity than tv gives me.
As far as the superior feeling.......I guess I´m guilty to a certain extent. The things that bugs me is that people don´t question their habits, unlike you Ness. They spend their evenings and weekends watching tv, but do that because that is what is done.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I don't have a tv, mainly out of habit. The place I was in before had a tv but it wasn't mine and when I moved to where I am now I didn't have one to take with me and I never got round to buying one. I certainly don't feel superior because of that and I know that I do miss out on some good stuff although of course there is an awful lot of rubbish. There have been several "big" television series over the last couple of years (Extras etc) of which I would have definitely watched at least the first episode if I had a tv but the main thing I miss is the news. I try to make sure that I read the papers as much as possible to make up for that lack but obviously they cannot respond so quickly to events (I also go on the internet for news but I don't have access to that at home either). I also would like to see football matches and stuff but it's more fun to watch in a pub or with mates.
That's the downside, on the plus side I don't waste time watching rubbish. I read more and listen to more records. My girlfriend has just started a phd in Oxford and has moved there, after living with me without a tv she is HATING the fact that her housemates are such tv junkies. The fact that they are always watching and talking about X-factor or whatever it's called and other reality tv programmes is driving her mad.
Sometimes when you come in from a long day at work though it can be good to switch your mind off and watch some froth and sometimes I miss that.
Basically, to cut a long story short the reason I haven't got a tv is, I don't mind not having one and I'm too lazy/tight to buy one and it would be slightly dishonest to pretend it's because of some kind of higher principle.
 

borderpolice

Well-known member
Ness Rowlah said:
So to those who don't have a television - why?
Do you somewhat feel superior (a stance I have witnessed personally by "non-TV persons"), that television is not worth your time

I removed my TV about three years ago, after realising that on most days i spent a couple of hours after work watching mindless stuff. as you point out, i really enjoyed this light entertainment, but i felt quite strongly that i could live my life in more interesting ways. Several things have been noteworthy:

* I do feel rather smug about this, looking down on TV watchers, think paternalistically 'those fools ...'

* I increasingly feel unable to connect with popular culture, in that i am no longer to recognize the faces on Hello!, OK etc magazines, or have opinions on the behaviour of the participants in the latest reality TV show, or who's who in football. This makes certain types of conversations with "normal" people increasingly difficult, at least breaking the ice with strangers.

* i have no difficulties in keeping up with the news, and why? one word: internet. however, and that's been a revelation: the impact of televised news is entierely different to printed or net-news.

* I have not regretted going cold-turkey on TV for a second. my realisation, "Hey, I have not though about, or seem Graham bloody NOrton for two years!" was a most pleasant surprise. This is quite different from removing home internet access which i did a year ago. the latter has been very difficult and every day I question that choice. The internet is just so much more interesting, entertaining and versatile a medium.

* I do in fact read more books, make more music, go out more and so on.

* I know quite a few people who no longer watch TV at all, or for whom it is less relevant than one would have expected for that demographic a decade ago. Such people tend to be very highly educated or young and technophile.
 
Last edited:
Don't have a Tv, tho do go and watch things of interest at other peoples' houses from time to time.

Watch DVDs on the computer, quite sweet in a tiny/tinny kind of way. And video reports on the BBC.

Read a lot more novels and spend too much time in the bath. Probably get more sleep than I used to when I had a Tv (staying up til 1-2 watching whatever was on). News = newspapers and the internet.

I think I prefer living without Tv - especially because the radio is so much more informative (compare sheer quantity of info imparted on a radio programme compared to a Tv news broadcast. Plus, you don't have to look at silly newsreaders). Internet obviously great for radio too.
 

bassnation

the abyss
borderpolice said:
I removed my TV about three years ago, after realising that on most days i spent a couple of hours after work watching mindless stuff. as you point out, i really enjoyed this light entertainment, but i felt quite strongly that i could live my life in more interesting ways. Several things have been noteworthy

theres degrees inbetween though - i've got a telly but too busy most nights reading or doing things with the kids, making music or using the net. in fact its kind of difficult to fit all that in, let alone having a few hours spare to watch telly.

i don't understand why its not possible for people just to avoid switching it on, if its such a bad thing. is it so addictive that you can't trust yourself if you own one???

tv is not just x-factor and celebrity dross. theres new channels which offer interesting adult entertainment (i don't mean pron btw) like more4, bbc4 etc. this is far from mindless entertainment and can challenge, entertain and educate.

i have no time for people being snobs thinking tv is all low brow. its factually incorrect and moaning about this topic is more about how people wish to view themselves than anything else.
 
Last edited:
yeah but £126.50 licence plus however much a Tv costs for something you don't turn on very often isn't a great deal...

and surely you can not have a Tv and also not be a snob about it. I don't care if a. Tv is mostly rubbish or not or b. people watch it or not.

One of the best things I've ever seen on Tv is Adam Curtis' 'Century of the Self' - made me think that more Tv could be used in this way.
 

martin

----
bassnation said:
i have no time for people being snobs thinking tv is all low brow. its factually incorrect and moaning about this topic is more about how people wish to view themselves than anything else.

I don't care if a lot of it is low-brow, I unashamedly watch "Footballers' Wives", it's one of the most incredible (in both senses of the word) things I've ever seen, I can't wait for the new series to start. And that documentary about the half-tonne man, on tonight - I can't see why I shouldn't gawp at it, it's human nature and I find it interesting.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
yeah but £126.50 licence plus however much a Tv costs for something you don't turn on very often isn't a great deal...

They still hassle you for this money even if you haven't got a tv.
 

borderpolice

Well-known member
bassnation said:
i don't understand why its not possible for people just to avoid switching it on, if its such a bad thing. is it so addictive that you can't trust yourself if you own one???

yes, very much so!

i live on my own. that makes a huge difference. if i had a family with the concomitant serious commitments i'd have no problem avoiding
wasting time with the telly. but I ain't, so i have.

bassnation said:
tv is not just x-factor and celebrity dross. theres new channels which offer interesting adult entertainment (i don't mean pron btw) like more4, bbc4 etc. this is far from mindless entertainment and can challenge, entertain and educate.

that's true, but i found myself watching the mindless stuff in the afternoon. that i needed to cut.

bassnation said:
i have no time for people being snobs thinking tv is all low brow. its factually incorrect and moaning about this topic is more about how people wish to view themselves than anything else.

not so easy! if you talk into account viewing figures, it is almost exclusively the mindless stuff that get's watched. who tunes in to watch open university geometry lessons?
 

bassnation

the abyss
infinite thought said:
I think I prefer living without Tv - especially because the radio is so much more informative (compare sheer quantity of info imparted on a radio programme compared to a Tv news broadcast. Plus, you don't have to look at silly newsreaders). Internet obviously great for radio too.

i like radio too, but i'm not sure i'd agree that theres vastly more information imported - the best television makes use of the medium to its full, explaining complex ideas with both commentary, footage and other means - lots of different ways at getting at the same thing. its not better, just different.

dvds is something i was going to ask about - wondered how people without a telly cope without movies, but i guess you've just answered that!
 

francesco

Minerva Estassi
IdleRich said:
They still hassle you for this money even if you haven't got a tv.

Even in Italy. Because is out of this world only the thought that you can't have a TV.

When parents of mine asked me if i had watched a program, months ago, and i replied that i haven't a Tv, they were shocked, and tell me that they will give me the money to buy one for me since i can't...
 
Last edited:

matt b

Indexing all opinion
what else is there to stare at when bolloxed? ;)







re- tv licenses don't worry until they know your name
 

borderpolice

Well-known member
martin said:
I don't care if a lot of it is low-brow, I unashamedly watch "Footballers' Wives", it's one of the most incredible (in both senses of the word) things I've ever seen, I can't wait for the new series to start. And that documentary about the half-tonne man, on tonight - I can't see why I shouldn't gawp at it, it's human nature and I find it interesting.

footballer's wives was astonishingly good TV.

I don't think anyone here argues that TV isn't entertaining. on the contrary, it's just so good at that. The problem is that a lot of really entertaining stuff, soap operas or quiz shows could be pointed to as examples, are entertaining in a way that brings you down in the long run: you switch off "who wants to be a millionaire" and immediatly you forget what you did the last 45 minutes. life-time disposal. it has no effect on the rest of your life except enternaining you when it did. one feels there should be better things to do with ones precariously short existence on the planet.

it is the good stuff that sucks you into consuming the crap, at least that's the lesson i drew from my own TV consumption habits.
 
Last edited:

borderpolice

Well-known member
francesco said:
When parents of mine asked me if i had watched a program, months ago, and i replied that i haven't a Tv, they were shocked, and tell me that they will give me the money to buy one for me since i can't...

haha, mine wanted to send me one of their spares.
 

bassnation

the abyss
borderpolice said:
i live on my own. that makes a huge difference. if i had a family with the concomitant serious commitments i'd have no problem avoiding
wasting time with the telly. but I ain't, so i have.

this is true - i'm struggling to remember what my single life was like in the days BK (Before Kids) - no doubt it involved a lot of lazing about watching telly.

borderpolice said:
that's true, but i found myself watching the mindless stuff in the afternoon. that i needed to cut.

it does depend on when you sit down. saturday night has to be the worst - don't mind light entertainment sometimes but the talent shows have never really grabbed me. late on weeknights are probably the best - lots of weird documentaries. sky is pretty crap imo, doesn't offer that much more than freeview if you want good television.

i guess i've also got my own internet equivalent of watching crap tv - its easy to waste time on sites that you aren't really that interested in if you aren't careful. does anyone regard their net usage in a similar way sometimes?
 
D

droid

Guest
borderpolice said:
it has no effect on the rest of your life except enternaining you when it did. one feels there should be better things to do with ones precariously short existence on the planet.

Perfectly put borderpolice...

And (I say this as a failed reformed TV addict) - Its one of those things that you can happily live without once its gone... ... once you have something better to with yourself do that is. The big problem is, most people either dont - or dont realise that they do...

TV is the major atomiser of our society IMO - without which people would actually have to go and DO something to entertain themselves...
 

adruu

This Is It
I haven't purchased a tv ever actually, although i've lived in houses where there's been one.

I can't say I am as militantly and openly against TV-Watchers as I used to be, but the one thing I CANNOT STAND is TVs in bars or cafes...or buses and public spaces. That Sh*t IRKS me.

I remember the first four or five years or so of not having a television. It was like the backwards-looking-angel every time I was in front of one, it seemed like it was just getting more and more outrageously horrible everytime I turned it on. How shallow the insights were, how blatant the manipulation of advertising (esp. re: pharmaceuticals) was....etc...etc...The more time I spent away from it the worse it became.

That feeling sort of flattened out after a while though.

Can't say I ever feel informed by watching TV anymore. Documentary or News just doesnt compare to takign the time to read about an issue, scanning wikipedia/bartletts/reference material...

Of course this is American TV so it's a different landscape altogether than what the Brits have...

And -- TV is a dying epiphenomenon though right? 20+ years of media domination, but its pretty much over now. PC's and the internet will be how people watch video in the bathroom, on the bus. No more big budgets, top to bottom broadcasting...lack of shared experience...rambling off
 
Top